Herbal Bilberry Protects the Skin Against Allergic Contact Dermatitis.

By Kyle J. Norton


Contact dermatitis is a skin condition with symptoms of a red, itchy rash caused by direct contact with a substance or an immune overreaction against contact allergens.

Many chemicals and nonchemicals substances have been found to induce such abnormal reactions, including cosmetics, fragrances, jewelry, and plants.

Most cases of contact dermatitis are nonlife-threatening, however, the condition can induce certain discomforts, particularly in people with an allergic reaction to other conditions.

Contact dermatitis can be healed within a week or 2. The condition can be preventable if the cause is identified.

Besides the common symptoms of a red, itchy rash on the skin, some people may experience more serious symptoms including crusting swelling, burning or tenderness skin.

Dr. Imbesi S, the lead scientist in the explanation of the immune involvement of the allergic contact dermatitis wrote, " an inflammatory skin condition due to pro-inflammatory and toxic factors able to activate the skin innate immunity (irritant contact dermatitis) or caused by a T-cell- mediated hypersensitivity reaction (allergic contact dermatitis)".

Bilberry is a species of low-growing shrubs in the genus Vaccinium, belongings to the family Ericaceae, native to Northern Europe.

The plant berry has been used as herbs in traditional medicine for the treatment of acute and chronic diarrhea, gastritis, gastric ulcer, and duodenal ulcer, enterocolitis, ulcerative colitis, anemia, cystitis, kidney disease, and psoriasis, diabetes, etc.

In the urgency to find a natural ingredient for the treatment of chronic allergic contact dermatitis with no side effects, researchers examined the bilberry extract (Bilberon-25) in the alleviation of pruritus in a mouse model of chronic allergic contact dermatitis.

The study involved BALB/c mice with chronic allergic contact dermatitis induced by 3 weeks of repeated application of 2,4,6-trinitro-1-chlorobenzene (TNCB) following by the administration of Bilberon-25 orally for 3 weeks after sensitization with TNCB.

During the experiment, administered Bilberon-25 orally significantly attenuated the TNCB-induced increase in scratching behavior, compared to that of dexamethasone.

Both Bilberon-25 and dexamethasone inhibited the ear swelling.

Additional differentiation of the Bilberon-25 efficacy, the action of the herbal remedy inhibited symptoms of chronic allergic contact dermatitis by alleviating T helper cell type 2 (Th2) predominance of the lesional skin.

Based on the findings, researchers wrote in the final report, "Anthocyanins from bilberry might be beneficial for the treatment of chronic pruritus which can occur in patients with inflammatory skin diseases such as atopic dermatitis".

In order to reveal more information about anthocyanins activity against chronic allergic contact dermatitis, researchers at the Chiba Univ compared the anti-pruritic effect of anthocyanin-rich quality-controlled bilberry extract and anthocyanidin-rich degraded extract in a mouse model of allergic contact dermatitis.

Once again, BALB/c mice with allergic contact dermatitis induced by 4 weeks of repeated application of 2,4,6-trinitro-1-chlorobenzene (TNCB) following by administration of Bilberon-25 orally for 4 weeks.

Compared with nonheated Bilberon-25, the proportion of anthocyanins in heated Bilberon-25 decreased, and the proportion of anthocyanidins was increased in heated-time dependent manner.

Treatment with non-heated Bilberon-25 significantly attenuated the TNCB-induced increased scratching behavior, whereas treatment with 2 h-heated Bilberon-25 did not.

Particularly, 300 μg/mL nonheated Bilberon-25 showed significant inhibition of degranulation in RBL-2H3 mast cells.

The results suggested that the anthocyanin-rich but not anthocyanidin-rich bilberry extract inhibited the skin diseases involving pruritic symptoms, such as chronic allergic contact dermatitis, atopic dermatitis, and rhinitis.

Taken altogether, bilberry processed abundantly bioactive compound anthocyanoside may be considered a functioning remedy for the treatment of symptoms in patients with chronic allergic contact dermatitis, pending to the validation of larger sample size and multicenter human study.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

References
(1) Anthocyanins from bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) alleviate pruritus in a mouse model of chronic allergic contact dermatitis by Yamaura K1, Shimada M, Ueno K. (PubMed)
(2) Anthocyanins, but not anthocyanidins, from bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) alleviate pruritus via inhibition of mast cell degranulation by Yamaura K1, Ishiwatari M, Yamamoto M, Shimada M, Bi Y, Ueno K. (PubMed)
(3) Allergic contact dermatitis: immune system involvement and distinctive clinical cases by Imbesi S1, Minciullo PL, Isola S, Gangemi S. (PubMed)